Taiheiki

Chapter 311 The Culprit
"Master, Master, that young master Wu is here again!"

"What?" Liu Biao's face darkened immediately. The servant was quick-witted and could tell at a glance that Liu Biao disliked this person, so he whispered, "If you don't want to see him, then let me find some excuse to kick you out."

"This fellow is a reckless madman. If we just send him away like this, he might cause some more trouble! It's better to see him and then send him away!" In the blink of an eye, Liu Biao had made his decision. He said to his servant, "Alright, bring him in. Be careful not to let anyone else see him!"

A moment later, Wu Jing was brought in. He smiled and cupped his hands in greeting to Liu Biao: "Brother Jingsheng, it seems you're leaving!"

"That's right!" Liu Biao rarely bothered with small talk. "I plan to go to Lujiang next. What brings you here?"

“Lujiang is ravaged by the Moth Bandits and is in chaos. What's the point of going there?” Wu Jing smiled and looked around, then suddenly asked, “What did Xu Zijiang say on the island today? Could you tell me?”

“With your and Yuan Gonglu’s connections in Runan, why do you need to come here to ask me?” Liu Biao said coldly.

“Times have changed, Jing Sheng, you’re not from Runan after all. Besides, listening to both sides leads to clarity!” Wu Jing said with a smile.

"You know that times have changed, so why don't you leave Runan?" Liu Biao asked. "I advised you long ago that the sooner you leave, the better. Stay away from Wei Cong; you are no match for him!"

A fierce glint flashed in Wu Jing's eyes: "Liu Jingsheng, you've praised Wei Cong so highly, why don't you join his staff? With your reputation, you're sure to rise through the ranks, reaching the rank of two thousand shi within three to five years!"

"I have already said that Wei Cong uses the strategies of Shen Buhai and Han Fei to govern the world. Our paths are different, and we cannot work together. Naturally, I will not serve him!" Liu Biao said coldly. "However, at least he has military wisdom and talent. You and Yuan Gonglu have the will but not the talent. If you insist on fighting him, you will only face death!"

"You—!" Wu Jing's face contorted with rage, his right hand already on the hilt of his sword. Before he could lash out, a servant's voice suddenly came from outside: "Something's wrong! Something's wrong! Someone's here!"

"What's going on?" Liu Biao shouted.

"Master!" The servant stood at the door, panting, "Soldiers have surrounded the premises; I hear they're hunting down thieves!"

"Soldiers? What soldiers? Are the soldiers from Luoyang here to pursue us?" Liu Biao asked.

"Judging by their uniforms, they don't seem to be!" the servant replied. "They should be county soldiers!"

"Prefectural soldiers?" Liu Biao and Wu Jing exchanged a glance, both seeing doubt in each other's eyes. Due to the Three Mutual Recognition Law, the appointment of officials in the Eastern Han Dynasty involved recusal based on place of origin, recusal based on marriage, and recusal based on official position: that is, local officials could not serve in their own place of origin; marriage families had to avoid each other, that is, if a person from A prefecture married a person from B prefecture, then the person from A prefecture could not serve as an official in B prefecture, and vice versa; and recusal based on official position, that is, if a person from A prefecture served as governor in B prefecture, then a person from B prefecture could not hold the same position in A prefecture, forming a chain of recusal.

For example, when a person from Jingzhou served as an official in Yangzhou, people from Yangzhou and their relatives or in-laws from Jingzhou were required to recuse themselves from holding positions in Jingzhou. This complex and strict recusal system even led to a long-term lack of suitable successors for some local officials, resulting in long-term vacancies.

However, the Three Mutual Restrictions Law only restricted officials, leaving subordinate officials of prefectures and counties unrestricted. As a result, power increasingly shifted into the hands of subordinate officials controlled by powerful local clans. In counties like Runan, where aristocratic families were powerful, the prefectural troops almost became synonymous with the private armies of a few powerful clans. The actions of the prefectural troops undoubtedly reflected the attitudes of these powerful clans within the prefecture.

"Give him one of your own outer robes to change into!" Liu Biao said in a deep voice.

"Here!"

Wu Jing glanced gratefully at Liu Biao, quickly took off his outer robe, put on the green robe brought by a servant, and then untied his waist knife and stuffed it under the bed. Just now, he heard hurried footsteps outside, so he quickly stood behind Liu Biao, hands at his sides and head bowed, looking like a servant awaiting orders.

"Who lives here?" A man in a scarlet robe led seven or eight county soldiers to the gate and shouted.

"Liu Biao of Shanyang is here!" Liu Biao walked out of the door, and the man in the scarlet robe was startled upon hearing the name. He quickly bowed and said, "So it is Lord Jingsheng! I am Yin Sheng of Runan. I have been ordered to search for the thieves. Please forgive me for disturbing you!"

"It's alright! I'm packing my bags too, getting ready to go to Lujiang. Come in and take a look!" Liu Biao said.

"Excuse me!" Yin Sheng bowed to Liu Biao before entering the room with two soldiers. After a quick search, he took his leave, saying, "I've finished searching. Farewell!"

"Wait a minute!" Liu Biao stepped forward and asked, "What is the background of the thief you were ordered to capture? What does he look like?"

"I heard it's related to that young master Dou from Luoyang who was assassinated a few days ago!" Yin Sheng said. "As for his appearance?" He pulled out a roll of paper from his sleeve and unfolded it for Liu Biao to see. There were two pictures that looked five or six parts similar to Yuan Shu and Wu Jing.

"Oh, these two look familiar, aren't they Wu—"

"Shh!"

Liu Biao had just finished speaking when Yin Sheng stopped him, saying, "You know it in your heart, so don't say it anymore!"

"Could it be that these two were the ones who assassinated Young Master Dou back then?" Liu Biao feigned surprise.

"Hmm!" Yin Sheng nodded. "Yesterday, there were two or three reports, all related to this matter. Sigh, Runan is such a small place. How could no one have noticed more than a dozen men of unknown origin carrying bows and crossbows, unless everyone was blind? They just pretended not to see them because of the Yuan family of Runan. You were on the island that day, so you should know what happened there. If you really wanted to investigate, how could you not find out?"

“That’s true! That’s why I wanted to go to Lujiang!” “You’ve come to the right place!” Yin Sheng laughed. “Rannan is a place of trouble right now. You’re an outsider, why stay here? Good luck on your journey! Be careful on your way!”

"Thank you!" Liu Biao saw Yin Sheng out the door and returned to the house. Wu Jing was already red with anger: "These two-faced scoundrels actually betrayed your father!"

"It's no use saying all this now!" Liu Biao's expression was icy. "To be fair, since Wei Cong didn't intend to implicate anyone in Runan, it was only a matter of time before you and Yuan Gonglu were betrayed by the local gentry. If I were you, I would have left after assassinating Dou Xuan, and wouldn't have dragged it out until now. You should thank God for letting you wait until now!"

"I understand!" Wu Shengqiang suppressed his anger, cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to Liu Biao, and said, "Then I'll take my leave. I wish you a safe journey to Lujiang!"

"Hmm!" Liu Biao hesitated for a moment: "If I were you, I would head south of Xuzhou, preferably towards Jiangdong. Wei Cong's forces should be weaker there, and you would be safer!"

"Thank you!" Wu Sheng replied, then turned and walked out.

Xincai County, Runan Commandery, Chaya Mountain, Yuan Shu's camp.

It was already late at night when they arrived at the foot of the mountain. This was the highest mountain Qian Wen had seen since arriving in Runan. According to the guide, Fu Gai, the younger brother of King Helü of Wu, was once enfeoffed here, and his tomb was located at the foot of a hill not far away. Yuan Shu's camp was on that hill.

"The siege of the camp will be handled by the county troops!" Qian Wen said to Shen Huan. "You and your men only need to supervise the battle, and act as needed! Do you understand?"

"Your subordinate obeys!" Shen Huan replied. "But Yuan Shu is from Runan, and he's likely closely connected to these county soldiers—"

"Are you worried that these guys won't put in their best effort and will secretly let us win?" Qian Wen laughed.

“That’s right!” Shen Huan nodded. “That’s exactly what I meant!”

"That's why I told you to act according to the circumstances!" Qian Wen laughed. "These guys might dare to secretly let Yuan Shu and the others go, but they won't dare to slack off when attacking the stronghold! Otherwise, the General and Imperial Censor Kuai will give them a hard time. As for you, send someone to keep a close eye on things, conserve your energy, and wait for the right opportunity to act!"

Shen Huan's eyes lit up, and he smiled, "Understood!"

Shen Huan didn't sleep well that night. Wrapped in a blanket, he stared at the distant mountain ridge. In the moonlight, he could vaguely make out the densely wooded ridgeline. Just a little further around, and he would see the bandits' lair. A burning desire for revenge flared within him. To be honest, he and Dou Xuan hadn't spent much time together, but he would never forget the scene when he found the boy's body—two arrows in his body, his face covered in blood and wounds, his head completely deformed. He couldn't reconcile this mangled flesh with the proud, pretentious, yet rather endearing boy.

"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth!" Shen Huan gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, making a cracking sound.

At dawn, Shen Huan got up and made some preparations before setting off with over a hundred cavalry. The county soldiers set off even earlier, their infantrymen carrying spears on their shoulders like a moving forest. They circled the mountain path and arrived at the foot of the hill, where they could already see the flickering lights on the mountain. These were probably the lights lit by the night watchmen in the camp to keep warm, which also gave away their position.

"These idiots!" Shen Huan sneered. If he were the commander of the attacking side, he would have sent lightly armed soldiers to secretly take out these night watchmen, then swarm in and catch the bandits off guard. However, Shen Huan remembered Qian Wen's instructions. He snorted and ordered his men to dismount and walk, to conserve their strength. In his view, these county soldiers might not be able to handle the bandits; he might have to take matters into his own hands!

However, the county soldiers moved much more swiftly than Shen Huan had anticipated—leading them were dozens of mountain dwellers, these agile fellows who were also excellent archers. Beside the camp gate was a watchtower, the highest point of the camp. The lookout atop it was the first casualty of the day; he had been dozing against a pillar two hundred yards away, a blurry shadow in the pre-dawn darkness. But as the sky gradually brightened, he began to move, stretching and standing up. An arrow struck him squarely in the chest. He reached out, as if trying to grab something, but grasped nothing, fell from the watchtower, rolled a few times on the soft ground, and lay still.

But there wasn't just one sentry on the watchtower; there were two others. However, they hadn't discovered the true cause of their companion's death, assuming he had accidentally fallen while urinating. They peered out to check on their companion below, when both were struck by arrows. One was shot in the throat and collapsed silently, while the other, only hit in the stomach, fell and struck the brazier behind him. The flames ignited his clothes, and he screamed. "The stealth has come to an end!" the county constable roared, and the soldiers swarmed forward, launching a fierce attack.

Shen Huan rode his horse up a nearby hill, overlooking the battlefield. The county soldiers, in dense formation, shields on their heads, charged forward, braving arrows raining down from behind the ramparts. Meanwhile, the county archers on either side drew their bows and fired fire arrows. The arrows pierced the morning mist, leaving ribbon-like white trails as they struck the palisades and walls, wisps of smoke quickly rising from within the camp.

Soon the county soldiers at the front had rushed to the trench. They began to stab the guards on the earthen ramparts with four-meter-long spears, while the guards retaliated with spears and various projectiles. People kept clutching their chests and falling down in pain, their bodies falling into the trench.

"Should we go up?" someone asked from behind.

"No rush!" Shen Huan said shrewdly, "We don't need to go in. The thieves won't be able to hold out for more than half a cup of tea's time!"

Shen Huan's prediction was accurate. As more and more county soldiers surged towards the trench, more and more of the guards on the earthen ramparts were stabbed, and soon only a few scattered soldiers remained. Several iron hooks with ropes were thrown from the crowd of county soldiers, hooked onto the fence, and began to pull hard. Soon, a large section of the fence collapsed, and with shouts of battle, the county soldiers rushed into the camp like a tidal wave.

"That's about enough, let's go up and take a look!" Shen Huan kicked his horse's rump and rode towards the camp, with his cavalry following behind. By the time they entered the camp, most of the fighting was over. He could see corpses and weapons lying scattered on the ground, and groups of prisoners being driven over.

"Yuan Shu, where is Yuan Shu!" Shen Huan jumped off his horse and shouted.

No one paid him any attention. Shen Huan grew anxious, knowing that his future largely depended on finding the real culprit who assassinated Dou Xuan. He walked up to the prisoners and shouted, "Who knows? Who knows where your leader is? Whoever tells first will not only be pardoned but also rewarded with 50,000 coins!"

Shen Huan's shouts made the prisoners raise their heads. A moment later, one of the prisoners stood up, but before he could speak, he was tackled to the ground by a guy next to him. Then a fight broke out, accompanied by shouts of "traitorous dog!"

"Quickly, pull them apart!" Shen Huan shouted. Several soldiers immediately rushed over and pulled the people rolling in the mud apart. One man was covered in blood and groaning in pain, while another spat out a mouthful of blood and cursed, "The Yuan family has raised you for so many years, and you dare to betray your master! You will die a horrible death!"

(End of this chapter)